The Zamani Data Archive is an integrated, archival system which provides archival storage management and end-user presentation. The data stored consists of a variety of different data types collected by the Zamani Project team at cultural heritage sites accross Africa and the Middle East. The Zamani Data Archive is a 2014 Honours Project created in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Cape Town.

Introduction

The Zamani Project was initiated to create a permanent metrically accurate record of important heritage sites in Africa and the Middle East as well as increase the international awareness of these sites. The purpose of this preservation is fourfold in that the data has been collected for education, research, restoration and conservation purposes.
Thus far, the Zamani team has documented approximately 40 sites in 12 countries in Africa and the Middle East, amounting to close to one hundred three-dimensional (3D) models of individual structures. The dataset collected by the team contains approximately 44TB including backups and copies. The data comprises of different forms such as 3D models, plans, videos, panorama imagery and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The Zamani team required an archive for their large spatial data collection from cultural heritage sites. The problem consisted of two major aspects, namely: archival storage management and end-user presentation.
The Zamani Data Archive was developed as a solution to the Zamani Team's requirements. The Zamani Data Archive is a Web-based platform intended to provide researchers with access to the Zamani Project's collection of cultural heritage sites. A data request system was required to ensure that users agree to the Zamani Project's terms and conditions and provide reasonable reasons to gain access to resources. The Zamani Project team are able to use a set of admin tools to manage the Zamani Data Archive's repository and file requests.

The Zamani Data Archive consists of three main components:

Public Portal

The Public Portal serves as the central point of user interaction with the Zamani Data Archive. The Public Portals allows users to view, request and download records from the Zamani Project spatial data collection.

The Search Interface allows users to navigate through the Zamani Project's spatial data collection using a number of searching features.

The Archive provides the core infrastructure for the Zamani Data Archive. The Archive consists of a Fedora repository and a Nginx Web server and is responsible for archival storage management and serving static content to users.

Admin Tools

The Admin Tools allow administrators of the Zamani Data Archive to management the content in the Fedora Repository and file requests.

The Archival Tools allow an adminstrator to manage the content in the Fedora repository using purge and ingest functionality.